Today, we are going about an hour and a half west of Austin, to Johnson City.

This city of 1,656 inhabitants, according to the 2010 census, is the hometown of former President Lyndon Johnson. When Christmas comes, this little city turns into a wonderland of Christmas lights, to the delight of children and adults!

Can you believe that we are already in December? I certainly can’t. The past couple of months have been a little rough on my side (more on this later) and to be honest, I am quite okay with 2016 ending soon. But in the meantime, we’re entering a beautiful season so let’s all falalalala together!

A few years ago, I had created an Advent Calendar when I was in New York City, sharing one Christmas-themed picture each day of the Advent. In memory of the Advent calendars of my childhood, I have decided to do it again this year with Austin. If you’d like to know what Austin looks like at Christmas time, stay tuned!

Today, we are going downtown Austin, on Congress Ave, to admire the window of a super cool store: Wild About Music.

They sell everything Austin, music and… cats. Yes, because one of the best parts of the store, it’s its resident cat. Meet Jeffrey!

I really like this store because it has a real local feel, you can find a lot of gifts to bring back from Austin that are original, and of course, if you love music (and cats), it’s a must see!

I’ll spend Christmas in Washington, DC this year, away from home. I have seen plenty of gorgeously – or outrageously – decorated houses in north Virginia, but of course the big attraction is the National Christmas Tree near the White House.

Although nice, I must say that the tree paled in comparison to the Rockefeller Center tree and its decorations in NYC, or even the decorations I could see in Texas (I’m pretty sure Austin’s Capitol’s Christmas tree last year was at least the same size).

Here are some pictures and a little bit of history behind the tradition.

Ninety-two years ago, the Ellipse, south of the White House, received its first Christmas tree.

In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, lighted the National Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve in front of 6,000 visitors. The 48-foot fir tree was decorated with 2,500 red, white, and green electric bulbs.

For the 7th year in a row, it is illuminated by LED lights. There are about 600 LED net lights and icicle lights for a combined 6,000 watts. The lighting has been provided by General Electric for 53 years.

The lighting ceremony took place on December 3rd this year, and is available online if you are interested.

There were also model electric trains all around the tree.

The National Christmas Tree is surrounded by smaller Christmas trees decorated with ornaments made by “ordinary Americans, representing every U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia.”

Here is the Christmas tree for New York, and an ornament.

And here is the Christmas tree, along with ornaments, for Texas.

Not too far, there was also a Nativity scene, and of course, the White House.

The trees and decorations were nice but I was a bit disappointed. But I guess after experiencing this and this, I’m a little demanding ;-)

One of the things I like about Christmas is that, while gloomy weather starts to settle in December, the Christmas lights and decorations give us a respite by making the streets and our homes look magical, full of light, colors, and warmth.

Christmas is behind us though, but we still have until New Year’s Eve to fly those lights and colors. As a consequence, here are a few pictures of Christmas decorations from Johnson City, TX.

Johnson City was founded by James Polk Johnson, an uncle of former President Lyndon B. Johnson. The city, located about 50 miles west of Austin, was also LBJ’s hometown. You can learn more about the history of this city here.

Johnson City isn’t a terribly big city, but it puts on a giant light show for Christmas. Here are some images of its 2014 decorations.

Three months have passed and I haven’t posted anything. It’s not for a lack of anything to post about: I have spent the last three months around Maryland, Washington DC, and North Virginia, and I am now back in Austin, TX. But some things do take priorities in life, such as work. Yes, yes it does, because I love what I am doing. But that is a subject for another post maybe.

I still want to stop by today and wish everyone of you a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season. Here are just a few pictures of Christmas celebrations from the DC area and Texas!

I hope y’all have a wonderful, wonderful Christmas!

Christmas tree in a shopping mall in North Virginia – December 2014

A store in Old Town Alexandria, VA – December 2014

Christmas decorations in Old Town Alexandria, VA – December 2014

Scottish Santa at the Scottish Christmas Parade in Alexandria, VA – December 2014

A decorated house in Old Town Alexandria, VA – December 2014

A decorated business building in Old Town Alexandria, VA – December 2014

Christmas tree at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, VA – December 2014

Christmas tree in front of the Capitol in Austin, TX – December 2014

Christmas tree in front of the Capitol in Austin, TX – December 2014

Christmas Lights in Johnson City, TX – December 2014

Christmas Lights in Johnson City, TX – December 2014

Christmas Lights in Johnson City, TX – December 2014

Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX – December 2014

Christmas tree in front of the Alamo, in San Antonio, TX – December 2014

Christmas tree in front of the Alamo, in San Antonio, TX – December 2014

We complain that we are overburdened by regulations that make our lives less easy – and that’s true. You’d imagine that someone like Santa Claus would get special privileges from the “governing” sphere though because, well, because he’s Santa, for goodness’ sake!

Well, you’d be wrong. And right.

Santa and his reindeers have to get all the permits necessary to enter the U.S. territory like everyone else, but we do think the red tape is being reduced a little for him. After all, if someone is used to red tape, that must be Santa (red, green, silver…), so you don’t want to add to it.

Er, this is not Santa, this is Hello Kitty Claus (?!)

If you are still thinking: “what the hell did she drink for Christmas?!”, let me explain.

Breaking news out of Washington, D.C. as the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today issued a movement permit to Mr. S. Claus of the North Pole, a broker with Worldwide Gifts, Unlimited. The permit will allow reindeer to enter and exit the United States between the hours of 6 PM December 24, 2013 and 6 AM December 25, 2013, through or over any northern border port.

“During this season of giving, USDA wants to do everything in its power to help Santa,” said Dr. John R. Clifford, USDA’s Chief Veterinary Officer. “We agreed to waive the normal application fees and entry inspection/overtime costs, provided he winks his eye and wishes port personnel a Merry Christmas at the time of crossing.”

APHIS also waived the normally applicable disease testing requirements, as the North Pole is recognized by APHIS as negligible risk for all livestock diseases and at a recent inspection, the reindeer were found to be healthy and able to prance and paw with each hoof.

Rudolph might avoid being frisked but he still has – per mentioned-regulation – to stick to a special diet of hay, sugar plums, and gingerbread and be microchipped.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today said Santa Claus, his elfin crew and the Santa One sleigh are GO for the annual round-the-world flight that will deliver presents to good boys and girls everywhere.

“This is my first holiday season as Secretary of Transportation, and I feel a special responsibility to make sure Santa’s flight goes off without a hitch,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

While there were no external changes to Santa One this year, FAA inspectors put in many hours ensuring that the sleigh’s systems – and especially its crew – met all applicable regulations.

(…)

“We’re helping Santa fly smarter and faster while making sure he has a safe and successful mission” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.

Finally, not even Santa is free of being spied onsurveilled tracked. Yes, you read that right: you can track Santa’s route thanks to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). In fact, “they’ve been tracking Santa since 1955 – they’re veritable professionals at keeping tabs on the big man. From their website, Noradsanta.org, you can follow Santa as he zooms around the globe delivering presents and spreading good cheer.”

Ah!

Well, I hope that Santa stopped at your house and delivered what you expected :-) If you are unsure (!), you can always ask the NSA to check for you.

Not everything went smoothly everywhere. I went to Austin’s Capitol on Monday to take a picture of the Christmas Tree in front of the park.

Yes, this is a limo and a Cinderella-like carriage fleeing the scene on your left

No, this is not a magic tree. Obviously, there was a bug in the lightning system. I wonder if those switched-off lights were incandescent light bulbs?

Finally, finally,… have you heard of boxing day? I had not until about a year. I’ll go back to how in a moment.

Nobody knows exactly the origins of Boxing Day, but there are several theories:

The best clue to Boxing Day’s origins can be found in the song “Good King Wenceslas.” According to the Christmas carol, Wenceslas, who was Duke of Bohemia in the early 10th century, was surveying his land on St. Stephen’s Day — Dec. 26 — when he saw a poor man gathering wood in the middle of a snowstorm. Moved, the King gathered up surplus food and wine and carried them through the blizzard to the peasant’s door. The alms-giving tradition has always been closely associated with the Christmas season — hence the canned-food drives and Salvation Army Santas that pepper our neighborhoods during the winter — but King Wenceslas’ good deed came the day after Christmas, when the English poor received most of their charity.

King Wenceslas didn’t start Boxing Day, but the Church of England might have. During Advent, Anglican parishes displayed a box into which churchgoers put their monetary donations. On the day after Christmas, the boxes were broken open and their contents distributed among the poor, thus giving rise to the term Boxing Day. Maybe.

But wait: there’s another possible story about the holiday’s origin. The day after Christmas was also the traditional day on which the aristocracy distributed presents (boxes) to servants and employees — a sort of institutionalized Christmas-bonus party. The servants returned home, opened their boxes and had a second Christmas on what became known as Boxing Day.

Boxing Day is not celebrated in the United States. Well, wait, it is actually, although it is celebrated in a particular way that is not on Wikipedia. It is how I heard of it. Boxing Day is a kitty holiday! Mais bien sûr ! And you can be sure some kitties at my home are celebrating like it’s Christmas all over again!

Long break because of vet visits for one of our cats, a huge cold, and decisions to make for the New Year…. The Holiday Season is always extremely busy as far as I’m concerned. What about you?

I wanted to stop to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season though!

There are plenty of holiday events to see around Austin but I missed many of them due to busyness cited above. Texas is wonderfully decorated at Christmas time, and I want to share two things to put you in the mood just before tomorrow (just in case you need a little mood booster ;-).

The first one is a video that I had posted last year, which was filmed in Texas by my husband, 6 years ago, a couple of weeks before Christmas. The little girl singing is the daughter of really good friends. All the decorations were in front of private houses in the Dallas area.

The second one is the illumination of the Zilker Park Christmas Tree.

The “ceremony” of the illumination of the Zilker Park Christmas tree took place on December 1, before the cold front arrived. Yes, we still had days when we would be wearing t-shirts and shorts (**nostalgic sigh**).

[You can click on pictures to enlarge them]

The tree is not a real tree, but almost literally a tree made of lights:

The Zilker Tree stands 155 feet tall and is composed of 39 streamers, each holding 81 multicolored, 25-watt bulbs – totaling 3,309 lights. At the top of the tree, a double star measures 10 feet from point to point. The double star displays 150 frosted bulbs. This unique spiral pattern of lights was created by City of Austin electricians. At its circumference, the tree measures 380 feet. The diameter is 120 feet. The base of the tree is made up of 19 utility poles, each 14 feet tall, arranged in a circle around the Moonlight Tower.

A gorgeous sunset preceded the night and the illumination. An orchestra was there to play holiday season songs in a festive and relaxed atmosphere. Something to see next year if you are in Austin!